bigalpha Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 You know those solar powered fans that hang in your window and turn on at a certain temp to pull hot air out of your vehicle? What about rigging one up so the fan is in the b-pillar (and blows out the vent), but the little solar panel sits in the dash? Then it'd always come on and you wouldn't have to worry about hanging it in your window. is that a dumb idea? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geonovast Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 I'd run it through a toggle so it wasn't running while I was driving, but if you can make a clean way to install it, it'd make a nice DIY. :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigalpha Posted June 9, 2009 Author Share Posted June 9, 2009 How hard would it be to run it so it's disabled when the key is 'ON'? Does it even seem like a worthwhile mod? Do those things even work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtdesigns Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Toyota has something like that in the new Prius'. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/20/prius-solar-panels-to-pow_n_205889.html But I think it powers the existing fan to vent the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaekl Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 A point to consider is the where the air will be pulled from. When inserted in the window, the fan is pulling the hottest air from the top of the cabin. Whereas the MJ vents start down low where the radio speakers are. You might need to cut into the B post trim so that the fan could be mounted higher and then blow out the vent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigalpha Posted June 10, 2009 Author Share Posted June 10, 2009 A point to consider is the where the air will be pulled from. When inserted in the window, the fan is pulling the hottest air from the top of the cabin. Whereas the MJ vents start down low where the radio speakers are. You might need to cut into the B post trim so that the fan could be mounted higher and then blow out the vent. Do you think that the air would heat up faster than the fan(s) could pull it out of the cab? Also, I wonder how much temperature striation there is in the cab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaekl Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 It will be stratified as soon as you start pulling in air, assuming it is cooler than the air you are pushing out. Without vacuum the vent goes full defrost but might be still wherever you had it. This fresh air will immediately go to the floor and work its way to the radio speaker grills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigalpha Posted June 10, 2009 Author Share Posted June 10, 2009 It will be stratified as soon as you start pulling in air, assuming it is cooler than the air you are pushing out. Without vacuum the vent goes full defrost but might be still wherever you had it. This fresh air will immediately go to the floor and work its way to the radio speaker grills. I wonder how much turbulence would be caused by the fresh air coming in the windows? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 A point to consider is the where the air will be pulled from. When inserted in the window, the fan is pulling the hottest air from the top of the cabin. Whereas the MJ vents start down low where the radio speakers are. You might need to cut into the B post trim so that the fan could be mounted higher and then blow out the vent. x2 The area behind the seat stays cool the longest. My cure for the heat was a reflective windshield screen and then adding the little window rain guard thingies that allow me to crack the windows a bit. But the fan idea has my brain churning... :D I wonder if I can fit something into the rear window that's solar powered. :hmm: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigalpha Posted June 16, 2009 Author Share Posted June 16, 2009 A point to consider is the where the air will be pulled from. When inserted in the window, the fan is pulling the hottest air from the top of the cabin. Whereas the MJ vents start down low where the radio speakers are. You might need to cut into the B post trim so that the fan could be mounted higher and then blow out the vent. x2 The area behind the seat stays cool the longest. My cure for the heat was a reflective windshield screen and then adding the little window rain guard thingies that allow me to crack the windows a bit. But the fan idea has my brain churning... :D I wonder if I can fit something into the rear window that's solar powered. :hmm: I think that once it got going, it would create enough of an airflow to keep the air cycling in the cab ... even if behind the seats isn't as hot as near the dash. Maybe a fan on both sides would work better. Mounting something in the rear window would be pimp ... you could have a pretty big fan that moves a lot of air that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 I think that once it got going, it would create enough of an airflow to keep the air cycling in the cab ... even if behind the seats isn't as hot as near the dash. Where do you envision the air entering the truck? (or "exiting" if the fan direction is reversed) The 2 vents are the only factory air gaps (they're there to keep your ears from popping when you shut the doors). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigalpha Posted June 16, 2009 Author Share Posted June 16, 2009 I think that once it got going, it would create enough of an airflow to keep the air cycling in the cab ... even if behind the seats isn't as hot as near the dash. But where is the airing cycling to? (or "from" if the fan direction is reversed) The 2 vents are the only factory air gaps (they're there to keep your ears from popping when you shut the doors). The cab of the truck can't possibly be air-tight. Of course, if it is ... then we can create a vacuum inside the truck and you won't be able to open the doors to get back in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 Well, it's certainly not airtight :D , but I can't imagine there's a ton of flow available. This might be a futile as a thought exercise and we're going to need someone to try it to see what happens. :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigalpha Posted June 16, 2009 Author Share Posted June 16, 2009 Well, it's certainly not airtight :D , but I can't imagine there's a ton of flow available. This might be a futile as a thought exercise and we're going to need someone to try it to see what happens. :cheers: I need to find one of those things for free/cheap. I just found a leak in the radiator. meh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 One of what things? fwiw, my backstory on this issue is that I sorta sealed those corresponding vents in my 00 Dakota and the door really was harder to open (and both closing the door and turning up the speed of the interior fan hurt the ears). Took me a bit of time to figure out what the heck was going on, but when I discovered it, I had a huge Homer Simpson moment. D'oh! :doh: Oh, and long ago I tried one of those window solar fans in the 88 and discovered that they really don't work that well when the window is tinted. :dunce: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigalpha Posted June 16, 2009 Author Share Posted June 16, 2009 One of what things? lol. You know those solar powered fans that hang in your window and turn on at a certain temp to pull hot air out of your vehicle? What about rigging one up so the fan is in the b-pillar (and blows out the vent), but the little solar panel sits in the dash? Then it'd always come on and you wouldn't have to worry about hanging it in your window. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 check. :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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